Follow Us

Separated at Birth? Logo Edition

I am aware that comparing these two logos is a bit of a stretch, but as I walked south on Bowery yesterday morning and gazed in wonder at the ginormous Whole Foods signage newly hung in the windows of the monstrostity of downtown development, Avalon Chrystie Place, I felt let down by their branding. Which is sad, because trust me, I am really excited to have a proper grocery store coming to our area. And it’s not just that we’re finally getting a functional supermarket, we are getting us some California style consumption. It’s very exciting. (It also helps that as a company, Whole Foods is relatively principled.) Anyway, I digress.

This post is really meant to be about branding, not groceries. I’ve been thinking about the WF logo since I saw it yesterday morning, trying to remember what it reminded me of. It occurred to me a few minutes ago that it was the Onion I was thinking of. This is how my brain works. Do with this information as you wish.

Similarities aside, I think that those Whole Foods people should look into some rebranding. The colors, the font, the rounded corners – it all feels very outdated to me, and not in a hip, retro kind of way. It’s too stale to be contemporary, but misses both the retro and nostalgia boats by a long shot.